A book I always turn to at this time of the year is Delia Smith’s Christmas cookbook. I’ve had it for many years now, and taking it down from the shelf and browsing through it is the start of Christmas for me.
I made her Christmas chutney a little while ago (it has to mature for a month) and today I’ve been cooking her braised red cabbage recipe. Both recipes have become Christmas traditions in our house.
A special memory
Another book which became a part of a special childhood tradition, is Enid Blyton’s The Christmas Book. The story is about a family preparing for Christmas and, as they get ready, the children, Ann, Benny, Peter and Susan, learn about the origins of many of our Christmas traditions, such as why we kiss under mistletoe, eat mice pies and hang up stockings.
Every bedtime in the week or so leading up to Christmas my mum would read a chapter to me and my sister, ending the book on Christmas Eve with the most exciting part, when Ann sneaks downstairs to give Father Christmas a jar of boiled sweets as he comes down the sitting room chimney, so that he has a present too.
The book, originally published in 1944, had been given to my mum when she was a little girl and we looked forward to hearing the story year after year.
I’m sure every family develops its own Christmas traditions and I hope you’re all able to enjoy yours this year.
So, as the song says…
Although it's been said many times, many ways,
Merry Christmas to you...
from me and my little helpers…
See you in 2022!
